I've learnt a lot during the last year - about deadlines, budgets, members'
concerns, and the challenges of fundraising, publishing and responding
to conflicting points of view - as I've worked with staff and volunteers
to address the myriad of issues that arise on a daily basis in the CMS
Office. But, looking back over the year, what stand out most are our accomplishments.
Accomplishments you will see described in this Annual Report. Accomplishments
achieved through an extremely dedicated group of members, volunteers and
employees. To all of them is owed an enormous debt of gratitude.

On the national front the year was very difficult as many mathematicians
struggled with and against the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) in their bid to assure funding for various endeavours
including the National Network for Collaboration in the Mathematical Sciences.
CMS was able to assist by providing funding to enable the Liaison Group
(representing the institutes, societies and departments) to meet with NSERC,
ensuring opportunities for the Group to meet at CMS meetings and by providing
funds to NSERC to enable the Review of Mathematics in Canada to take place.
Efforts were not completely successful and the Network was not funded.
This was extremely disappointing as it was to be a powerful mechanism to
bring mathematicians together and provide opportunities for a broad range
of mathematical activities across the country. Nevertheless it is hoped
that in time we will find alternate ways to ensure the goals of the network
are attained and the CMS believes it has an important role to play in doing
so.

Maintaining a strong community of mathematicians across the country
is important and is supported by providing opportunities for people to
come together bringing with them new ideas, new initiatives, new energies
and new purposes. And of course this often involves the participation of
new voices.

With the loss of NSERC conference funding for the CMS semi-annual meetings
it seemed that we might lose a major vehicle through which the CMS brings
people together. A creative response was necessary and we took the opportunity
to explore not only funding the meetings but also their structure. The
goals were to ensure better communication between the various organisers,
reduce costs, locate alternate financial support, encourage broader programming,
include joint initiatives with other organisations, emphasise the support
of graduate students - and, overall, provide more reasons and opportunities
for participation.

It is too early to say how successful we have been. But it can be reported
that: meetings are now overseen by a meeting director who ensures all organisers
are kept fully informed and supported; sessions are being funded by the
institutes (CRM, Fields and PIms); the June 97 conference was held jointly
with a meeting of the International Linear Algebra Society; graduate student
sessions are now featured regularly and funds are available to support
students; and a greater emphasis is being placed on encouraging the organisation
of unfunded sessions (in fact, I am involved in organising one myself next
summer in Saint John).

New people are also being attracted to the Society. Several of the recently
elected Board members completed PhDs not so many years ago. Initiatives
are underway to encourage broader CMS membership - especially from new
faculty. We will soon have two student members on the CMS Board and two
new corporate members will join us in January. New initiatives have been
undertaken this year. Mathematical Mayhem, an undergraduate mathematics
magazine has joined with the CMS journal Crux Mathematicorum. Work has
continued to broaden our involvement with youth in Canada through: the
"Open"- a new mathematics competition for school students; plans for a
book series at the school level; more stable financial support of IMO programs
made possible by a donation of $125,000 from the 1995 IMO Corporation;
and our developing partnership with the Youth Science Foundation to support
mathematics projects at Science Fairs.

We enter our next year with substantial accomplishments behind us, excellent
volunteers and an endowment fund close to our goal of $1.5 million. We
are growing, developing and changing and need to ensure we are moving in
the directions we deem most important. It is necessary to decide on our
priorities and begin to plan. We need to ask what our members want of the
Society, how the Society best supports them and, perhaps most importantly
how we best support mathematics. Planning has started with ad hoc committees
on policy and budget, board representation, and the use of future endowment
income. We are also developing a planning document in which we will state
clearly what we stand for, establish goals and develop strategies for achieving
them.

The future is promising - join with us in the promotion and development
of mathematics in Canada.

Executive Director's Report

Graham P. Wright (Ottawa)

The past year has seen a large number of new initiatives and changes
for the CMS. A good level of media coverage was obtained for the CMS in
general, and for the Society's education activities in particular.

During 1996-97, the CMS database was upgraded and, in addition to improvements
in the system, a greater degree of automation is now possible in numerous
office procedures. For example, the members database records are exported
daily so that the information on Camel is as current as possible and changes
are automatically made to various e-mail lists. As part of the renewal
process, members are provided with a CMS identification number and a temporary
password so that they can activate their Camel account. When activated,
this account provides access to some of the restricted areas on Camel and,
for those individuals who subscribe to a Society periodical, it also permits
access to the on-line version. This new database should meet the needs
of the CMS for the foreseeable future.

One project that is very dependent on the database is the next edition
of the CMS Membership Directory. It is anticipated that the 1997 edition
of the Directory will be available in printed form, and on Camel, by the
end of 1997.

Increasingly, the Executive Office is required to ensure numerous materials
are also available electronically on Camel. Via Camel, members can now
subscribe to CMS periodicals and purchase other publications, register
for the meetings electronically, search the membership database and easily
communicate with those responsible for particular activities.

By-Law Revisions

By-law No. 10 was accepted by the General Meeting in June 1997, and
has received the approval of the Ministry of Consumer and Corporate Affairs.

This by-law revision enables meetings of the Board by conference call
as well as the option for votes electronically. Although federal statutes
do allow for such votes, there are procedures that must be followed. All
members of the Board will be required to unanimously accept two enabling
resolutions for such procedures to be possible.

By-law No. 10 also includes the change in the financial year-end from
June 30 to December 31 and allows for two students to be appointed to the
Board.

Education Activities

Significant administrative and other support has been provided for the
first Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (November 1996), the 1997 Canadian
Mathematical Olympiad (March 1997), the selection, training and travel
of Canada's team to the 1997 International Mathematical Olympiad in Argentina
(July 1997), exhibits at provincial and national meetings (May 1997) and
grants for the support of public lectures and other events that help promote
and increase the public awareness of mathematics.

The Society's educational activities, particularly the Open and the
various Olympiads, have received a significant level of media exposure
and interest.

Research Activities

The CMS semi-annual meetings are a critical component of the Society's
activities and the Executive Office continues to provide significant support
for all aspects of these meetings. All registrations (including on-line),
exhibits, logistical details and the promotion of our meetings are coordinated
through the Executive Office.

Furthermore, the elimination of NSERC's Conference Grants Programme
resulted in the Society establishing a "New Framework for CMS Meetings."
Work continues to ensure that our semi-annual meetings are of interest
to a wide section of the mathematical community and that the meetings do
not run deficits.

Periodicals and other publications

The Society continues to provide an extensive range of periodicals and
other publications.

Thanks to the efforts of the editors-in-chief, and the TeX Editor (whose
office has experienced a number of staffing changes during the past year),
the Canadian Journal of Mathematics (CJM) and the Canadian Mathematical
Bulletin (CMB) have appeared almost always on schedule.

The Publications Committee recommended that authors be provided with
the option of transferring copyright to the CMS or providing the CMS with
a consent to publish. A "Consent to Publish and Transfer of Copyright Agreement"
was accepted by the Board of Directors in June and is now being used by
the editors-in-chief. Although authors can choose not to transfer copyright,
they are encouraged to do so.

In February 1997, the first issue of Crux Mathematicorum with Mathematical
Mayhem (CRUX with MAYHEM) was released. The cover layout was changed and
the combination of CRUX with MAYHEM has been well received. I wish to acknowledge
the work done by the Editor-in-Chief, Bruce Shawyer, to make the incorporation
of Mathematical Mayhem almost seamless and I am glad to report that all
issues of CRUX with MAYHEM appeared on schedule.

In 1996, CRUX (now with MAYHEM) was the first of the Society's journals
to be available on-line, but to individuals only. In 1998, our two research
journals, the CJM and the CMB, together with CRUX with MAYHEM, will be
available on-line to both individuals and institutions.

In addition, the last of the Society's three 50th Anniversary Volumes
(Invited Papers) was released in December 1996, and several books in the
Conference Proceedings Series (published with the AMS) and the CMS Series
of Advanced Mathematics Books (published with Wiley) have appeared. A new
series for high school students - "A Taste of Mathematics" (ATOM) - is
being developed. The first volume, "Mathematical Olympiads Correspondence
Program (1995-1996)," is scheduled for publication in the fall of 1997
and other volumes are being prepared.

A promotional campaign is underway for the Journal, the Bulletin, CRUX
with MAYHEM and the Anniversary Volumes. It is hoped this campaign will
help to increase the subscriber base for our periodicals and generate significant
revenue from other publication sales.

With the help of Judi Borwein, the CMS Notes are now being produced
in a LaTeX format. It is hoped to provide an on-line version of the Notes
on Camel in the near future and other changes are planned for 1998 that
should reduce costs, particularly printing and distribution costs.

Contracted Services

As approved by the Board of Directors, a contract was signed with the
Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada, in which the CMS will provide
assistance with the production and distribution of "Comptes rendus mathématiques
- Mathematical Reports" for the 1997 volume year.

The re-design of this publication, the transition of the subscriber
data and the production of the first issue (Volume 19 No. 1 - June 1997)
involved some unforeseen difficulties but this issue has now appeared.
Negotiations are underway regarding a renewal of the contract for 1998.

In 1996, the Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (CUMC) approached
the CMS for administrative and accounting assistance and for a "permanent"
location for the CUMC home page and other services. The CMS was pleased
to provide this assistance and to support the work of the CUMC.

All of the Society's numerous activities and initiatives would not be
possible without the help of the many volunteers and dedicated members.
To all of them, and to all of those who provide such invaluable assistance
in the various offices across Canada, I extend my sincere thanks for a
most successful and productive year.

Treasurer's Report

Arthur Sherk (Toronto)

Contrary to fears expressed at the Board of Directors meeting on June
6, 1997, the Operations Fund shows a cumulative surplus rather than a deficit.
There was however an actual annual deficit of $7,415, which was more than
covered by the cumulative surplus carried over from the previous year.
The reasons for the deficit (which was not planned in the budgeting process)
are presently being examined by a special Budget Policy Committee, as part
of its mandate, to provide some guidelines for future budgets.

Revenue generated by the Endowment Fund is down over the 1995-96 figure.
Although the difference can be explained in terms of changes in portfolio
holdings and the type of bonds held, this is another development that will
bear scrutiny by the Budget Policy Committee. The market value of the Endowment
Fund increased by about 17%. There are no comparative figures for the IMO
Fund since 1996-97 was the first year of its existence. Plans regarding
the handling of investments, approved by the Board on June 6, 1997, are
expected to add some stability to investment activities.

Beginning January 1, 1998, our budget year will coincide with the calendar
year. We have an interim six-month budget, July 1 - December 31, 1997,
which is expected to show a large deficit owning to revenue/expenditure
yearly patterns. If a cumulative deficit exists on December 31, 1997, it
will be covered by a special appropriation from the Endowment Fund so that
for 1998 and future years it will not be saddled with the adverse anomalies
of this budget.

A new CMS programme of mathematics awards at the annual Canada-Wide
Science Fair was started during this period. As there is no mathematics
category at these Fairs, CMS awards recognize individuals who have a substantial
mathematics component to their project and whose work is judged to be excellent.
It is hoped that the awards will motivate the organizers, the Youth Science
Foundation of Canada, to introduce a mathematics category into the Canada
science fairs, as there is in the US. The CMS Office was particularly helpful
in negotiating and establishing these awards. The 1997 Canada-wide Science
Fair was held in Regina. Denis Hanson (Regina) and a team of volunteers
did a great job selecting the prize winners and representing the CMS at
the awards ceremonies.

David Poole (Trent) had the responsibility for developing and running
the education session in London for the 1996 winter meeting. The theme
was "Innovations in Mathematics Teaching" and Pat Rogers (York) was Plenary
speaker. It was particularly rewarding to see a number of graduate students
from York participating in the programme. In Winnipeg, Lars Jansson (Manitoba)
and Kathleen Nicol (Brandon) invited Wayne Watt from the Government of
Manitoba as Plenary speaker to reflect on the changes in school mathematics
and their implications on university mathematics. The other presentations
were oriented towards mathematics in business and agriculture. The Education
Committee is very thankful for the work done by the organizers of these
sessions which add another dimension to the CMS meetings.

The second Adrien Pouliot Award for sustained contributions to mathematics
education was presented to Bruce Shawyer (Memorial) at the banquet of the
1996 Winter Meeting in London. Well

done Bruce and thank you for all that you have and are doing to stimulate
young minds in mathematics.

During the period covered by this report, the Education Committee continued
to work on the existing programmes of the Society. A CMS grant was awarded
to the Third Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. Application
for grants to support Provincial Mathematics Competitions, Public Lecture
Programmes and activities which aim to popularize mathematics were adjudicated.
The Committee urges CMS members to look at these programmes and apply for
support where appropriate. These activities help the Society to become
more visible outside the university sector and help others to enjoy and
enrich their experiences of mathematics. The CMS ran a major display at
the 1997 Ontario Association for Mathematics Education conference in Toronto
which was visited by a large number of mathematics teachers. Copies of
CRUX with MAYHEM and exploration of Camel were hot items. The Education
Committee is attempting to define the role that CMS should play in the
mathematics education component of Camel. Anyone with suggestions should
contact a committee member.

January 1997 saw a turn over of Committee members. We thank Bernard
Hodgson (Laval), David Poole (Trent), and Ronald Richards (Memorial) for
their many contributions to CMS through the Education Committee.

The Electronic Services Committee (ESC) is charged with overseeing of
the burgeoning electronic activities of the CMS. These activities have
critical implications for the future financial health of the Society. The
ESC works closely with the Finance and Publications Committees and has
ex-officio members from the Research, Education and Women in Mathematics
Committees. This year, a private sector member joined the ESC.

The electronic activities of the CMS already pervade every area of its
function: Executive Office management, information flow to and from members,
publications (traditional and electronic), education, outreach and public
policy activities.

In 1994, the Society created "Camel," the Canadian Mathematical Information
Services - Les Services electroniques mathématiques canadiens, with
the assistance of a grant from CANARIE Inc (the Canadian Network for the
Advancement of Research, Industry, and Education). The visible face of
this service is now a Web Server which receives tens of thousands of "hits"
per month. Behind the scenes a remarkable group of programmers maintain
the server at the Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics
at Simon Fraser University and at and the University of Ottawa (now an
eastern mirror for Camel). Camel also receives assistance from the Centre
de Recherches Mathématiques. Recently "Camel East" has taken independent
responsibility for Camel areas providing information on the CMS. The ESC
approved detailed operating protocols for Camel in 1996. Reflecting the
rapid pace of Internet development, they have already been updated.

Camel offers a comprehensive set of resources. These include: routine
information about the Society, CMS Conference information (including on-line
registration), abstracts for CMS publications, material on Mathematical
Education, Women in Mathematics, NSERC and electronic journals, and links
to a broad selection of other mathematical resources. In September 1996,
the Society made available its first electronic journal - an on-line version
of "Crux Mathematicorum with Mathematical Mayhem." This has been a major
success both in broadening the reach of the journal and increasing the
subscriber base. By January 1998, the Society's research journals will
commence on-line publication based on tools developed by Camel. With the
help of a grant from Nancy's Very Own Foundation, the Women in Mathematics
Committee guided a project to create Web pages for women mathematicians.

The whole face of the Camel site must be constantly upgraded - during
the past year both the CMS area and the "front door" to Camel have undergone
complete overhauls to bring their visual appearance in line with current
Web standards.

The CMS is also a founding partner in an Industry Canada sponsored consortium
of publishers with interest in on-line publishing. The Virtual Centre for
On-Line Scholarly Publishing (VCOSP) may provide an avenue for the CMS
to become a leader in electronic technical publishing in Canada.

The Finance Committee deals with the Society's budget and its investments.
Two members of the committee play a particularly significant role in dealing
with budget matters. The Executive Director, Graham Wright, handles the
basic day-to-day decisions in these areas and also formulates the budgets,
as well as many of the budget policies, which come to the committee for
consideration. The Treasurer, Arthur Sherk, is a major advisor to the Executive
Director on budget matters, particularly during the annual budget preparations.
The principal forum for the discussion of the Society's investment portfolio
and, more generally, the Society's investment strategy is the Investment
Advisory Group (IAG). The IAG includes a small group of outside financial
experts who provide advice regarding the Society's investment decisions.
Until recently, the IAG Chair, Ben Segal, also handled day to day investment
decisions.

In the past year, a number of initiatives have taken place both in the
area of budget procedures and the area of investment policy. As of 1998,
the Society's budget year will begin on January 1 rather than July 1. To
handle the transition a special half year budget was presented for the
period July 1- December 31, 1997. In addition, accounting procedures have
been altered which will enable us to better monitor our financial affairs.
The Operations Fund has been broken into four divisions reflecting the
activities of the Society: General, Education, Research and Publishing.
Our two Restricted Funds (RF), the International Mathematical Olympiad
Fund (IMOF) and the Endowment Fund (EF), have been segregated from the
Operating Fund.

Over the past few years, a more coherent investment strategy has slowly
begun to take shape. Thanks to the efforts of Ben Segal, our portfolio
has been divided into two areas - cash and bonds under the direction of
the IAG and equities which Brian Neale of RBC Dominion Securities directs,
in consultation with the Chair of the IAG. The Finance Committee has recently
been dealing with the question of a long term investment strategy. So far,
the IAG has been basically operating in a vacuum insofar as input from
the CMS regarding long-term strategy is concerned. Samples of the types
of questions which the CMS has not dealt with and which it seems important
to answer are: what are the goals of our investments?; what risk factors
are we willing to tolerate?; how active should our investment management
be?; what diversification in terms of Canadian versus international investment
should be sought? The Committee has been considerably aided in these deliberations
by the advice of Tim Appelt and by experts whom he arranged to make presentations.
The Society is indebted to Ben and Tim for their advice and counsel.

It has been suggested that we actually have an answer of sorts to the
question of our investment goals. Most of our investments are concerned
with the Endowment Fund. Our goal is to raise the Endowment Fund to $1,500,0000
by the year 2001 and we are well on our way to achieving that goal. The
Endowment Fund increased by 16.8% during the 1996-97 fiscal year, ending
with a value of just over $1,354,000.

Our current fundraising theme is Mathematics and Youth. Companies are
being specifically targeted to be major sponsors of activities such as:
Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC), math for students on Camel,
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). A colour brochure is being professionally
prepared. Our message is that donating to support activities for youth
is a long-term investment in mathematics, and in the country's economy.

A brief description of our activities follows:

Efforts are underway to activity promote the CMS and its activities at
regional and provincial teachers' events. This year we participated in
an event at the University of Calgary, the annual OAME meeting in Toronto
and the Canada-Wide Science Fair (Regina), where mathematicians from the
University of Regina judged projects and awarded CMS prizes. The Office
will prepare packages of materials for members who volunteer to participate
in this way.

We met with Doug Hull and others at Industry Canada (IC) to pursue opportunities
to work together. IC is providing funding of $10,000 over two years to
allow us to make available one-year subscriptions of "CRUX with MAYHEM"
for the schools of the gold medal winning students (about 100 of them).
We have also been actively promoting the COMC through SchoolNet.

In the 1997 CMS membership drive, members were given the opportunity to
direct their donations to specific areas of the CMS operations. This proved
to be very successful and members donated over $7,000. We are very grateful
and this will continue to be a feature of the membership renewal forms.
We will be looking at ways to more publicly thank our members. We continue
to recruit new members and, beginning in 1998, we will be offering reduced
fees for the first two years to all new mathematics faculty members. With
the enhanced education activities of the CMS we now have more to offer
mathematicians in colleges, CEGEPs and schools and will be looking for
opportunities to invite them to join. All members are asked to encourage
their colleagues at these institutions (and their own university) to become
members of the CMS.

A brochure describing the CMS historically and currently has been developed.
This will be distributed to members, sponsors and future sponsors in place
of the more detailed annual report (Although the full report will still
be available).

Members of the committee have been investigating the possibility of offering
a workshop in Toronto on financial mathematics as a mechanism for both
generating revenue and giving a higher profile to the CMS in the financial
community. The remains under consideration. We have discussed an agreement
with MathResources Inc. that allows us to distribute their CD ROM.

Searching for sponsors is a slow process, but we have lately been encouraged
greatly in this activity by the support of Lesya Balych (Bank of Montreal)
and Rosaria Morelli (Deloitte and Touche) who have been assisting us significantly.
We are working to know a broad range of corporate people and build support
through invitations to the IMO dinner and other events to give future and
current sponsors the opportunity to see and experience our activities and
meet the people working to make them happen.

Committee members continue to work to build contacts with their provincial
governments. Funding received this year was: BC - $2,000 for the Victoria
meeting; Alberta - $1,000 for CMO; Ontario - $13,100 in IMO support; Quebec
- $1,500; Newfoundland - $5,000 for electronic and educational services;
New Brunswick - $4,000 for web materials (particularly in French); North
West Territories - $2,000.

Funding has also been received from corporations and foundations: Nancy's
Very Own Foundation - $5,500 for women's web pages; Xerox - $1,000 to support
Math in the Malls; Sun Life - $5,000 to support the CMO; in support of
educational activities: 3M Canada donated $500; 1996 IMO Parents and Schools
gave $3,000; Field Institute/Sun Life Company - $4,645; HP (Canada) Ltd.
- $942, Pratt & Whitney - $1,000; Samuel Beattie Fund - $1,000; and,
together, the Senator N. M. Paterson Foundation; the McLean Foundation
and Rockwell International provided $3,500 for our general activities.

The major contribution during the year was $125,000 from the OIM 1995 IMO
competitions to establish an endowed fund to support mathematical olympiad
activities. We are now seeking to add to this endowment to ensure the long-term
support of our olympiad program.

Finally, the International Affairs Committee has identified institutions
in the former Soviet Union (fSU) to whom we will be sending journal subscriptions
donated by members. Contact has been make with the institutions and journals
should soon be on the way. We have received very heartwarming letters thanking
us for our support. Funds had also been raise to support mathematicians
in Sarajevo. Since the circumstances of those mathematicians has changed
significancy since the money was raised, it was decided to send it to the
IMU to be used to fund mathematicians from Bosina to attend the 1998 International
Mathematics Congress. Many thanks to all who made donations.

The national survey data is being processed at Queen's and the results
should be available shortly. The Committee Chair attended the monthly meetings
of the Consortium and of Partnership Group for Science and Engineering
(PAGSE). In different ways, both try to influence federal scientific research
policy and play a role in lobby efforts for the Canadian Foundation for
Innovation (CFI). In the fall of 1996, the PAGSE organized a science highlight
day in Ottawa and Donald Dawson was the CMS speaker.

It is the mandate of the CMS Human Rights Committee to investigate and
monitor violations of the human rights of mathematicians. When appropriate,
the Committee makes appeals on the victim's behalf.

The Committee has continued its efforts on behalf of Ahn Jae-Ku, a South
Korean mathematician who was given a life sentence in November 1994 for
advocating closer relations with North Korea. During the past year, the
chair of the Committee wrote to the President of the Korean Mathematical
Society and to South Korea's Ambassador to Canada: these letters expressed
the CMS's concern for Ahn's welfare, and asked for further information
on Ahn's situation. To date, neither the President nor the Ambassador has
replied.

The Committee is also taking an interest in the case of the South Korean
mathematician Myung Ho Kim, who appears to have been unfairly dismissed
from his position at Sungkyunkwan University. While the Committee continues
to follow the developments in this case, it has not taken any action.

Increasingly, it seems that recent graduates of Ph.D. programs in mathematics
face the prospect of holding only short-term academic appointments (as
opposed to tenure-track positions). The CMS Executive has requested that
the Human Rights Committee prepare recommendations on the ethical and professional
implications of this situation.

The International Affairs Committee (IAC) is charged with overseeing
CMS activities associated with international mathematical organizations,
as well as other matters of an international character which are of interest
to the Canadian mathematical community.

In particular, it appoints the Canadian delegates to the General Assembly
of the international Mathematical Union (IMU), which last met in Lucerne
in 1994. The International Commission on Mathematics Education (ICME) is
a sub-commission of the IMU. The long-serving Canadian delegate to this
body, David Wheeler (formerly from Concordia University), retired this
year and was succeeded by Bernard Hodgson (Laval), who represented Canada
at ICME 96 in Seville. This appointment was made in consultation with the
Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group.

The IMU is fostering and coordinating mathematical events around the
world in connection with the turn of the millennium. This programme is
called World Mathematical Year 2000 and the CMS is considering what form
our participation might take.

With the generous support of CMS members, four sets of gift subscriptions
to the Society's journals (1995-1997) are being sent to libraries in the
former Soviet Union.

Our year begins with the Mathematical Olympiads Correspondence Program,
run by Ed Barbeau at the University of Toronto. Each year about 20 of Canada's
best high school mathematics students participate in the program which
is designed to give them practice in obtaining and writing up solutions
to competition level problems. Professor Barbeau sends out problem sets
and marks (with copious comments) the solutions returned by the students.
It is no accident that every member of our 1997 International Mathematical
Olympiad team was a graduate of this program.

The first Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge was held on November 27,
1996. The Open provides a mathematical enrichment activity to a large number
of students (nearly 3,000 wrote the paper last year) and it serves as a
qualifying paper for the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO). Plaques
are awarded to top students and their schools, and Gold Medals are awarded
to up to 130 of the top students. The top 5 students in the first Open
were Sabin Cautis (Earl Haig Secondary School, North York), Adrian Chan
(Upper Canada College, Toronto), Byung-Kyu Chun (Harry Ainlay Composite
Secondary School, Edmonton), David Nicholson (Fenelon Falls Secondary School,
Fenelon Falls) and Adrian Tang (Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, Scarborough).
The Open is administered for the Society by The Centre for Education in
Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo, and which is directed
by Ron Dunkley.

Twelve students took part in the 1997 CMS Winter Training Camp at the
University of Waterloo. The coaches at the camp were Naoki Sato, Christopher
Small and Richard Nowakowski. The 20 students were selected on the basis
of their solutions to ten problems which were sent to about forty students
across Canada in September.

The CMO was held on March 26, 1997. Eighty-one students participated
and the top three were Sabin Cautis, Byung-Kyu Chun and Mihaela Enachescu
(Dawson College, Westmount, Quebec). The Awards Banquet was held at Renison
College on the campus of the University of Waterloo on June 11. About ninety
people attended, including sixty-seven students.

Canada's 1997 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) Team consisted
of Adrian Birka, Sabin Cautis,
Adrian Chan, Jimmy Chui, Byung-Kyu Chun and Mihaela Enachescu. Richard
Nowakowski was the Team Leader, Naoki Sato the Deputy Team Leader and Kristin
Lord the chaperon. Christopher Small accompanied the team as an observer
as he will be the Leader in 1998. The IMO was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina,
from July 21 to July 31. Canada placed 29 out of the 82 participating countries.
Both Adrian Chan and Byung-Kyu Chun received Silver Medals, Sabin Cautis
and Mihaela Enachescu received Bronze Medals and Jimmy Chui received an
Honourable Mention. Before leaving for Argentina the team trained at Saint
Mary's University for two weeks (the coaches were Robert Dawson, Richard
Nowakowski, Naoki Sato, Bruce Sawyer and Christopher Small), and the day
before leaving, Upper Canada College in Toronto hosted a reception in their
honour. Once again, our team received a good level of media coverage in
both the press and on television.

The first booklet in our series, A Taste of Mathematics (Aime-T-On les
Mathématiques) is "Mathematical Olympiads' Correspondence Program
(1995-96)" edited by Ed Barbeau. The ATOM series is designed to provide
enrichment material for high school students with an interest in and an
aptitude for mathematics. The level will vary from quite elementary to
more specialized material for students who are preparing for advanced competitions.
Bruce Shawyer is responsible for making this project a reality.

Our Olympiad activities have taken the time and energy of many volunteers,
too many to list here. Some of these people are mentioned in more detailed
reports on the COMC , CMO and IMO-APMO which have appeared in the Notes.
One person should be recognized, though. Graham Wright has put a tremendous
amount of time and energy into our Olympiad endeavours during the last
year, as in years past.

Most of the work of the Canadian Mathematical Society is carried out
by twelve standing committees and numerous subcommittees whose total membership
exceeds 130. For four months or more every year, the Nominating Committee
is in touch almost daily discussing and contacting possible replacements
for those committee members whose terms expire at the end of the year.

In recent years, we have made a special effort to enlist the support
of people not directly involved in academia because of the special expertise
and fresh view points such individuals can provide. This past year, for
example, we were exceptionally pleased that Mr. David Rogers accepted an
invitation to join our Electronic Services Committee. Currently the Director
of Enterprise Information Systems in the Medical Centre of the University
of Michigan, Mr. Rogers brings with him years of experience in the development
of electronic services and products including service with the American
Mathematical Society during the time that organization was developing an
on-line version of Mathematical Reviews.

The Canadian Mathematical Society is governed by an Executive Committee
of eight and a Board of thirty-one directors, approximately half of whom
are elected biennially. As 1997 was an election year, the Nominating Committee
also devoted a large amount of time to developing a slate of candidates
for election. We were gratified by the number of fine people who came forward
as candidates and sorry that not all could be elected. In addition to elected
members, there are also three Board appointed directors. At the December
1996 meeting of the Society, we welcomed Dr. Jack Mosevich of Harris Investment
Management Inc. to the CMS Board of Directors. Dr. Mosevich has had a most
impressive career which includes periods of work with Air Canada, Canadian
General Electric, Burns Fry Analytics, Merrill Lynch Canada and two universities.
Jack is an enthusiastic person with a unshakable conviction about the importance
of mathematics in the business world.

This being my last report as Chair of the Nominating Committee, I want
to finish with hearty thanks to my committee for its hard work and support
in what can be a rather lonely and difficult job. Thank you all most sincerely.

The CMS publications committee oversees the publishing activities of
the Society. In addition it is the Society's forum for the discussion of
matters related to the publication and dissemination of mathematics.

The Canadian Journal of Mathematics (CJM) is one of the Society's two
publications devoted entirely to original research of very high quality.
It publishes longer research papers.

The Canadian Mathematical Bulletin (CMB) is the other research publication
of the Society. It publishes shorter research papers, the maximum published
length being 13 pages. Maung Min-Oo of McMaster, replaced Anthony Peirce
(also of McMaster), as Editor-in-Chief on September 1, 1996.

The CJM and CMB share a Scientific Editorial Board, made up of the Editors-in-Chief
and 12 distinguished Associate Editors. On January 1, 1997, John Friedlander
(Toronto), Mark Goresky (Institute for Advanced Studies) and Joe Lipman
(Purdue) joined the Scientific Board, replacing Sudarshan Sehgal (Alberta),
Cameron Stewart (Waterloo) and Alfred Weiss (Alberta).

The typesetting of the CJM and CMB is carried out at the University
of Manitoba, under the supervision of the Society's TeX editor, Michael
Doob. The journals are printed at the University of Toronto Press. Starting
in 1997, the TeX office is also to assume responsibility for the typesetting
of the Royal Society of Canada's publication Comptes rendus mathématiques
- Mathematical Reports.

The G. de B. Robinson Award for an outstanding publication was awarded
for the first time in 1996. The recipients were Henri Darmon, Steve N.
Evans and Edwin A. Perkins, in recognition of papers appearing in the CJM
during 1994 or 1995. The 1997 award will be for papers in the CMB during
1995 or 1996.

The Wiley Interscience/CMS Series of Advanced Mathematics Books, edited
by Jonathan Borwein and Peter Borwein of Simon Fraser University, publishes
research level mathematical monographs. It released five volumes in 1996/1997,
and has six volumes in preparation.

The CMS Conference Proceedings Series is edited by Ram Murty of Queens
and Niky Kamran of McGill. Volumes are prepared by the CMS, and printed
and marketed by the American Mathematical Society. By June 1997, twenty
volumes had appeared in the series, with four more in preparation.

The CMS Notes is distributed to all members of the Society. It provides
news, announcements of meetings, and other items of general interest to
members of the Society. It is edited by S. Swaminathan, of Dalhousie University.
In 1998, substantial changes to the appearance of the Notes are planned.

Through the University of Toronto Press, the Society published three
scholarly volumes, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. With the appearance
of the final volume in 1996, the three volumes are now being marketed as
a set.

Crux Mathematicorum with Mathematical Mayhem is a publication devoted
to problem solving at the undergraduate and senior secondary school level.
It arose from the January 1, 1997 merger of the CMS publication Crux Mathematicorum,
with the student run publication Mathematical Mayhem. It publishes articles,
problems and solutions, and has regular columns devoted to Olympiads and
School Mathematics competitions. With the merger, Crux has an increased
focus on material suitable for high schools. Clayton Halfyard (Memorial)
replaced Colin Bartholomew as Associate Editor in January 1996.

The Society has developed significant expertise in the growing field
of electronic publication. Since September 1996, individual subscribers
have had access to CRUX with MAYHEM as an "electronic supplement" on the
World Wide Web, through the Society's electronic server Camel. Building
on this experience, the CJM and CMB will launch on-line versions in 1998,
also through Camel, and with both personal and institutional access. In
the near future, portions of the CMS Notes will also be available electronically.

The 1996 Winter Meeting of the CMS was held in London, Ontario and the
1997 Summer Meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At both meetings there was a
Joint Fields Institute/CMS Session. In London, the Fields Institute supported
a session on cyclic homology and its applications organized by M. Khalkhali
and in Winnipeg, the Fields Institute supported a session on model theory
and permutation groups organized by B. Hart and M. Valeriote. The Centre
de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM) supported a session in complex
analysis and geometry organized by F. Larusson in London. At the conference
in Winnipeg, the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIms)
supported a session on group theory and topology which was organized by
D. Rolfsen. The support of Canada's research institutes for special sessions
at our annual meetings is extremely important and we are grateful for it.
I am happy to report that at the 1997 Winter Meeting in Victoria, the CRM,
Fields and PIms will each be supporting a session.

At the meeting in London, in addition to the Fields and CRM sessions,
there was a session on environmental mathematics organized by B. Moodie
and S. Shen, a session in number theory organized by R. Murty, a session
in education organized by D. Poole and a session for contributed papers
organized by K. Murty. The Winnipeg meeting was held in conjunction with
the International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS). In addition to the Fields
and PIms sessions, P.N. Shivakumar organized a session on linear algebra,
which tied-in with the ILAS. symposium, L. Batten organized a session on
finite geometries and applications, K. Nicol and L. Jansson organized a
session on education and R. Padmanabhan looked after contributed talks.
There was also a graduate students seminar at the Winnipeg meeting.

The Coxeter-James Lecturer at the 1996 Winter Meeting was Nigel Higson
of Pennsylvania State University. At the 1997 Summer Meeting there were
two prize lectures. The Krieger-Nelson Lecture was delivered by Cathleen
Morawetz of the Courant Institute while Stephen Halperin of the University
of Toronto gave the Jeffery-Williams Lecture.

A new prize lecture has recently been introduced by the Society, the
CMS Doctoral Prize. The first winner of this annual prize is James Geelen
of the University of Waterloo. He will be lecturing on his work at the
coming Winter Meeting in Victoria.

The Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) is charged with monitoring
the status of women within the Canadian mathematical community and the
Society, recommending actions to the Board which will assure equitable
treatment of women there and encouraging the participation of women at
all levels of mathematics.

This past year has seen the creation, in cooperation with Camel, of
the Directory of Canadian Women in the Mathematical Sciences. The Directory
is an indexed collection of home pages of Canadian-connected women actively
involved in some aspect of the mathematical sciences. Its development has
been funded by a grant from Nancy's Very Own Foundation and supported by
the CMS. The Directory is located at: http://camel.math.ca/Women/WMpages/.
Nathalie Sinclair at Camel and June Lester of CWM have done the major work
in setting up this directory. Joan Geramita was the committee member coordinated
the project.

Also on the electronic front, Shelly Wismath has been exploring ways
for the committee to facilitate communication among Canadian women mathematicians.
There is "space" at the Directory site for growth in this direction.

As part of its role as a liaison with other organizations involved in
women and science, the CMS will be joining the Canadian Coalition for Women
in Engineering, Science and Technology (CCWEST). This group meets monthly
by phone for the purpose of facilitating communication between and among
women's groups and with various government agencies. June Lester will be
the CMS/CWM representative to CCWEST.

Margaret Beattie of Mount Allison finished an extended term on the Committee
in December of 1996, having agreed to serve an extra year as Chair. Lisa
Jeffery of McGill joined the committee in January, 1997 and Shelly Wismath
took over from Joan Geramita as Chair July, 1997.

Editorial Boards

Scientific Editorial Board for the Canadian Journal of Mathematics
(CJM) and the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin (CMB)